Mary Edwards claims she was fully alert during surgery in September when the doctor operating on her had a conversation on his cellphone about having diabetes and blurred vision.

The surgeon, Dr. Eric Fishman, was not actually ill but was taking a Spanish proficiency examination, according to a lawsuit Edwards has filed in state Supreme Court in White Plains.

Edwards' surgery to fix a varicose vein went fine. But the 70-year-old Port Chester woman claims she suffered emotional distress and is suing Fishman and Westmed Medical Group, for whom Fishman works at its Purchase practice where the outpatient surgery was performed. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages.

Westmed Medical Group office in Purchase where Mary Edwards of Port Chester had vascular surgery in September. Edwards claims in a lawsuit that the surgeon, Dr. Eric Fishman, took a Spanish proficiency test on his cell phone while operating on her.(Photo11: Jonathan Bandler/lohud.com)

Edwards' lawyer, Mitchell Baker, said she had to go through the rest of the surgical procedure thinking that the doctor might not be able to see what he was doing.

"She was in absolute terror during the operation," Baker said. "She had no clue what was going on until after."

Following the operation, according to the lawsuit, Fishman told Edwards that he needed to be certified in Spanish because he has many patients who speak that language. He told her that the operation occurred at the only time he was able to take the proficiency test.

In the lawsuit, Baker cited concerns about cellphone use in operating rooms expressed by the American College of Surgeons and suggested that Fishman had violated its recommendations.

"(There is an argument that) in an emergency (cellphones) can be helpful. But this was no emergency," Baker said. "The doctor felt he could do both."